Quote by Paul Leroy Bustill Robeson from interview published in October 1957 edition of Ebony Magazine
Paul Leroy Bustill Robeson was born on April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey. Robeson was the youngest child of William Drew Robeson and Anna Louisa (née Bustill) Robeson. William Drew Robinson born on July 27, 1845 to enslaved African parents Sabra and Benjamin escaped in 1860 five years before slavery was abolished. In 1867, two years after slavery was abolished William Drew Robinson entered Lincoln University. He worked and paid his way through Lincoln University, received a degree in divinity, and was employed as a pastor at the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian church in Princeton. Anna Louisa Robeson transitioned when Paul Robeson was six and his father moved with his children to Sommerville, New Jersey.
In 1915 at 17 years old Paul Robeson earned a scholarship to Rutgers University, becoming the third African American admitted to Rutgers. In spite of the racism he endured he excelled in football, baseball, basketball, track and field and was the class valedictorian. In his valedictory speech, he challenged his classmates to work towards equality for all Americans.
Robeson attended law school at Columbia University and played professional football (NFL Akron Pros and Milwaukee Badgers) to earn money while attending law school and also took part in amateur dramatics. In 1923 Robeson graduated from Columbia University Law School and retired from professional football. He accepted a position at the Stotesbury and Milner law office in New York. As the only African American in the company, Robeson was subjected to blatant racist abuse from other members of staff. On one occasion, a stenographer refused to work with him saying "I never take dictation from a nigger." Following a meeting with Louis William Stotesbury about this incident Robeson resigned from the firm and never practiced law again.
Robeson had met and married Eslanda Cardozo Goode in 1921 and she had persuaded him to play a role in "Simon the Cyrenian" at the Harlem YMCA in 1921. After deciding not to pursue a career as a lawyer Robeson seriously became involved in acting. He turned to acting as a career, playing the lead in All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924) and The Emperor Jones (1925). He also sang African American spirituals. Robeson was the first to give an entire program of exclusively African American songs in concert and he was one of the most popular concert singers of his time. Robeson played the lead on stage in Othello, in London, England (1930), Toussaint L’Ouverture (1934), and Stevedore (1935). His Othello (1943–44) ran for 296 performances—a remarkable run for a Shakespearean play on Broadway. While playing opposite White actress Mary Ure, he became the first African American actor to play the role in England's Shakespeare Memorial Theater.
During the 1940s, Robeson continued to perform and to speak out against racism, in support of labour and for peace. He was a champion of working people and organized labour. He spoke and performed at strike rallies, conferences and labour festivals internationally. As a passionate believer in international cooperation, Robeson protested the growing Cold War and worked tirelessly for friendship and respect between the U.S. and Russia. J. Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began to monitor and gather information about Robeson.
On September 12, 1946 Robeson gave an anti-lynching speech at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “This swelling wave of lynch murders and mob assaults against Negro men and women represents the ultimate limit of bestial brutality to which the enemies of democracy, be they German-Nazis or American Ku Kluxers, are ready to go in imposing their will. Are we going to give our America over to the Eastlands, Rankins and Bilbos? If not, then stop the lynchers! What about it. President Truman? Why have you failed to speak out against this evil? When will the federal government take effective action to uphold our constitutional guarantees? The leaders of this country can call out the Army and Navy to stop the railroad workers, and to stop the maritime workers - why can't they stop the lynchers?” Almost two weeks later on September 23, 1946 Robeson led a protest of approximately 3,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial, for the American Crusade to End Lynching, a coalition of some fifty organizations from thirty-eight states and dozens of celebrities. Following the rally he led a delegation of the American Crusade to End Lynching to see Harry S. Truman to demand that he sponsor anti-lynching legislation. He also became involved in the campaign to persuade African Americans to refuse the draft. During this period when dissent was scarcely tolerated (especially from African Americans) in the U.S.A and Robeson publicly questioned why African Americans should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism he became a marked man. He was accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of being a Communist. The accusation almost ended his career. His concerts were cancelled and in 1949 two outdoor concerts in Peekskill, N.Y. were attacked by racist White mobs while state police stood by. Robeson responded by saying: "I'm going to sing wherever the people want me to sing...and I won't be frightened by crosses burning in Peekskill or anywhere else."
In 1950, the U.S. government revoked Robeson's passport, leading to an eight-year battle to recover his passport since he could not travel without a passport. Unable to travel abroad and prevented from performing in the USA, Robeson's income dropped from $104,000 in 1947 to $2,000 in 1950. During those years Robeson published his autobiography “Here I Stand” (1958.) In her 1981 published book “The Whole World in His Hands” Robeson’s granddaughter Susan Robeson writes: “From 1950 to 1958, an official but effective ban on Robeson concerts was imposed and his passport was taken away, because of his outspoken political ideas. His active creative life came to a standstill – a devastating situation for any artist, especially an artist of his enormous talents.” In 1952 and 1953, he held two concerts at Peace Arch Park on the U.S. - Canadian border (without a passport, Canadian officials refused to permit his entry to Canada) singing to approximately 40,000 people in both countries. In 1957, he made a transatlantic radiophone broadcast from New York to coal miners in Wales. In 1960, Robeson made his last concert tour to New Zealand and Australia. The government harassment took a toll on his health and Paul Robeson retired from public life in 1963. On January 23, 1976 at 77 years old Robeson transitioned in Philadelphia and his funeral was held at the historic African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church in Harlem.
Robeson paved the way for African American actors like Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Denzel Washington. He was the forerunner of African American activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., El Hajj Malik El Shabazz and Mohammed Ali. Harry Belafonte was one of the pall bearers at Robeson’s funeral and in an article published in Ebony Magazine, April 1976 said: "If there had been no Paul Robeson, there would be no me." In an interview with Ebony Magazine published in November 2015 for its 70th Anniversary edition Harry Belafonte said: "I was very fortunate in my earliest of years. I was touched by the presence of a man named Paul Robeson. He was a mentor to me, one of the great figures of the 20th century. It was he who connected with a group of then-young artists—Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier—at the American Negro Theater in Harlem and would help them to become some of the world’s most engaged activists. Robeson said something that made an indelible impact on my life: ‘Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. They are civilization’s radical voice and moral compass.’”
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